Training pre-service teachers to enhanced digital education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Teachers must be digitally competent at the beginning of their career. The main aim of this paper is to study whether specific training is necessary to enable pre-service teachers in Catalonia with the required level of teacher digital competence (TDC). Three cases are discussed. In the first case, TDC is self-assessed among first-year pre-service teachers (N = 1166). In the second, TDC is assessed among second year pre-service teachers who received specific training (N = 33). The third case measures TDC among third-year, pre-service teachers without any specific training in TDC (N = 151). Results reveal that pre-service teachers who are given specific training in TDC get better scores in the assessment compared to those who do not receive training. Practical implications on formative assessment emerge: specific training in TDC in higher education curricula must be practical and address methodological aspects of TDC.